Gavin continued to work tirelessly at trying to the revive the woman, leaving only the breathing up to the husband.
Seeing flashing lights hitting the trees, Ginny rose, waving to be seen. Then she helped the man to his feet as the EMT came running toward them, attempting to move them out of the way.
“We need to give them room to work on her,” she explained to the panic-stricken man when he tried to shove away from her.
Going with her when he finally understood what she was trying to do, they stood on the grass, watching the paramedics take over. Ginny couldn’t imagine the horror that the husband was going through with his wife’s and child’s life hanging in the balance.
The area around the car quickly flooded with arriving personnel to give assistance to the couple. Three police cars arrived, one blocking the traffic lane that the ambulance was using.
Talking softly to the man, Ginny told him that his family was going to be okay, that so many people were here to do their best to save his wife. She told him everything and anything to keep him by her side.
Gavin moved toward them when the paramedics readied the woman for transport.
“They’re sending for a life flight,” Gavin related to him what he had been told. “We can go on, Ginny. They want our car moved.”
“I don’t want to leave him …,” Ginny began to argue.
“A police officer is going to drive him to the hospital. He can’t fly with her.”
When Ginny saw one of the police officers who had been talking to Gavin approach, she gave the distraught man a brief hug. Ginny released him when Gavin’s jaw went rock hard, yet he held back the shout she could see he was wanting to give.
“We need to move the car.” Gavin’s lips barely moved as he spoke.
“I’m coming.”
Watching where she walked on the gravel, they returned to her car.
Staring out the window as Gavin drove away, she saw the man get in the back of the police car. Ginny felt terrible that the couples’ excitement about their upcoming baby had taken such a devasting turn.
Stony-faced as he drove, Ginny started to break the oppressive silence, then didn’t. Gavin wasn’t ready to be reasonable.
Her nerves went haywire when Gavin turned on the blinker to turn into a rest area. Taking the lane meant for cars, Gavin parked in the first spot. Ginny wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs, noticing the spot was also the most dimly lit one in the area.
“Gavin …,” Ginny started to plead her case when he unbuckled his seatbelt so hard the metal clasp gave a pop when it hit the casing.
Cool air met her face when he tore himself out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Ginny let him have a few minutes, then she got out of the car. The parking area was empty. No one would be able to rescue her from the wild man who was stalking his way toward her.
The fear in her chest loosened as he drew closer. The man who had worked so tirelessly trying to save a woman he didn’t know would never be able to harm her. Her wild man had a gentle soul shining through the anger that he was feeling. Not even the evil he had been exposed to could diminish the light from within Gavin. She could see it from where she was standing. God hadn’t allowed it to be destroyed, shielding the light even from Gavin, protecting the beautiful heart that had been gifted to him. A heart created to be a match for hers, only for her.
As Gavin grasped her arms, jerking her toward him, her eyes went heavenward, relieved she had made up with the big guy in the nick of time.
The Reaper had come for her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What were you thinking?” he yelled. “I told you to stay in the car. If shit goes fucking down, I have to know you will fucking do what I say!”
“Lower your voice.” Ginny placed her hands on his chest as he tightened his grip on her arms, letting her weight fall into his body and sending him back to the side of the car. “All I was thinking about was that poor man losing his wife and child, and if anyone could save them, you could.”
Gavin’s face twisted in anguish. “I didn’t save her; she died. I was trying to keep the baby alive.”
“You tried, Gavin. You gave her baby a fighting chance, which is more than they had before you stopped.”
Gavin shuddered as if he was freezing cold. He stared off into space as if he was in another place and time.
Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly. “I love starry nights. When Leah and I were little, we would climb out of our father’s window and stare up at the sky, waiting for shooting stars so we could make a wish. That’s how I experienced my first and only spanking. We didn’t care it was on the second floor and the overhang was just a few inches wide.
“Do you see that tree with the little limbs?” Ginny nodded toward a little sapling not far from them. “Freddy made Leah and me go pick two limbs, then told Silas to spank us with them when we brought them back. Our faces turned as red as that truck parking over there to your left. We thought we were too old to get spanked. Pa told me I would never be too old for a spanking, then handed the switch to Silas for him to spank us.”
“Why didn’t he do himself?”
Ginny lowered her head to Gavin’s shoulder in relief that his mind was coming back from the dark place he had gone. “Pa couldn’t harm a fly, much less two little girls crying their eyes out before he laid a hand on them. Unfortunately, Silas didn’t have that problem. He was the one who found us, and he had warned us a dozen times not to climb out onto that overhang. We didn’t listen. After that, our stargazing was confined to lawn chairs that Silas put out for us. Every night that was as beautiful as this, I remember stargazing with Leah.”
“How can you say it’s a beautiful night?” he croaked out. ”A woman died, her baby will need a miracle to survive, and they don’t exist.” His body started to shake again.
Ginny further tightened her arms around him, slipping her hands under his jacket to rub his back in soothing motions. “Sweet man, it’s beautiful because you were a gift to her. You kept her child alive until help could arrive, and her husband didn’t have to bear the agony of losing his wife alone. You didn’t fail tonight, Gavin. You did what you could. Whether the child lives or dies, no one could have worked harder to save them than you did.”
“You shouldn’t be touching me. We don’t know what killed her. It could have been the infection—”
“Or it could have been a complication from her pregnancy,” Ginny finished for him. “You told me it isn’t in the States.”
“I said we can’t know for sure. I need to call Viper.”
Ginny moved away from him, giving him space to talk privately. She used the opportunity to stretch her legs, and as she did, Gavin walked behind her, keeping her within eyesight as he talked, close enough to react if something happened.
When another car pulled into the rest area, Ginny turned and walked back to the car to wait inside, even though the vehicle was parked farther ahead.
As Gavin remained outside, still talking to Viper, she was pretty sure she knew what they were discussing.
Nervously buttoning her jacket, Ginny waited for Gavin to end the call. When he got back inside five minutes later, he didn’t immediately start talking.